The A’s are coming out of the gates in full force, as they extended their winning streak to four games. The A’s improved to 4-1, thanks to strong pitching and timely hitting. The Los Angeles Angels, however, dropped another game and are 1-4 in this young season.
The A’s collected 13 team hits and scored a total of 10 runs. Rajai Davis (3-for-5, 2 RBIs) and Daric Barton (3-for-5, 2 RBIs) led the A’s on offense against Angels’ starter, Matt Palmer. For the night, Palmer gave up a total of seven runs (five earned) and managed to last five innings against a very aggressive A’s team. Watching the game tonight I was really impressed with the way Oakland was hitting the ball. A’s shortstop, Cliff Pennington belted a three-run homer to really help ensure an Oakland victory in the top of the seventh. Collectively, the A’s played really well on offense, which is extremely encouraging for fans.
As it was in the Seattle series, the A’s pitching opened up game one against the Angels with strong pitching. A’s starter, Gio Gonzalez, who often times struggles with his emotions and command, started the game off on the right foot. He struck out two in the first inning, and ended up with a total six strikeouts in his six inning performance. Gonzalez, who took over the fifth spot after Trevor Cahill was placed on the DL, looked solid in his 2010 debut. In order to experience more success like this, Gonzalez will have to keep his emotions in check, seeing as he can get extremely wild at times. Reliever, Edwar Ramirez, allowed 2 runs in 2.1 innings, which had me a little worried at the end of the game. However, the A’s bullpen proved to be stable as Craig Breslow put a stop to the Angels’ comeback in the ninth.
Defensively, however, the A’s were not as sharp. The A’s committed another two errors, which raises their season total to seven in the first five games. If the A’s are to continue their winning ways, they’ll have to stay consistent on defense. I mean, after some web-gems on Thursday and Wednesday, the A’s looked a bit sloppy in tonight’s game. Rajai Davis dropped a routine pop-fly and Ramirez made an awful throw to first. Don’t get me wrong, it was a nice win tonight for the A’s, but they’ll have to stay consistent defensively if they truly want to win this year.
The A’s will hand the ball to ace Ben Sheets tomorrow as they continue their fight against the defending AL West Champion, Angels. A win tomorrow would seal up the A’s second straight series of the year.